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Alumni Mission Award

Alumni Mission Award Logo Germantown Academy

In 2019, the Alumni Mission Award was created to recognize graduates from the Academy who are living the GA mission: Independent in Thought, Confident in Expression, Compassionate in Spirit, Collaborative in Action, and Honorable in Deed. The Award is bestowed on a bi-annual basis by the Alumni Society Board. Enjoy reading below about the first 14 recipients of this honor.

All members of the GA community including alumni, parents of alumni, current parents, faculty, and staff, are encouraged to use the form at the bottom of this page to submit a nomination to recognize alumni who actively live GA's mission. 


2023 Alumni Mission Award Recipients

Derrick Pitts ’73

From infinity to beyond is the best way to describe Derrick Pitts, the Chief Astronomer and Planetarium Director for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He is not only the first African American to hold these dual titles at a major science institution in the United States, but he is also the first American to set this benchmark. 

Read More about Derrick Pitts ’73

2021 Alumni Mission Award Recipients


2019 Alumni Mission Award Recipients

Karla Ballard Williams '90

Leaving a successful career in the banking industry, Karla Ballard Williams '90 took a leap of faith and began service work by starting a chapter of the Urban League, an organization aimed at empowering people of color to achieve economic self-reliance, equality, power, and civil rights.

Read More about Karla Ballard Williams '90

Nominees must be 10 years or more out from graduation (Class of 2015 or older). Honorees will be notified and announced in Summer 2025, and honored during GA/PC Day & Alumni Weekend, November 7-9, 2025.

The deadline to submit nominations to be considered for 2025 is June 12, 2025. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Alumni Office at alumni@germantownacademy.org

MISSION STATEMENT

Our core GA Mission consists of 15 simple but profound words, 15 words that guide our actions and activities each day and every year.

INDEPENDENT IN THOUGHT
A leadership mindset begins with having the independence of thought necessary to seek and find the truth in all that he or she reads, sees, and hears.

CONFIDENT IN EXPRESSION
Independent thinkers become self-confident individuals. Teachers and staff members hear expressed time and time again how confidently GA students comport themselves. Alumni visits around the country remind us that the core of confidence built during GA years holds firm throughout adulthood.

COMPASSIONATE IN SPIRIT
Effective leadership also involves the ability to care about others, to realize that everyone we meet can teach us something valuable and, in turn, can learn something of value from us. True compassion: empathy that enables independent-minded, confident people to recognize that vulnerability is the connecting spirit within us all.

COLLABORATIVE IN ACTION
Collaborative action moves a group forward whether a community, a team, a company, etc... Active "followership" plays a significant role in a meaningful education. Well-educated people have learned when and how to dedicate themselves to the support of the whole.

HONORABLE IN DEED
The Mission Statement recognizes that without personal honor, curious, confident, compassionate people will not engender the trust needed to be effective leaders or followers. GA strives to teach students to hold themselves to the highest personal standards. To achieve this goal, adults in our community must be role models of trustworthy behavior.

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2025 Alumni Mission Award Nomination

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